Many diverse applications have begun to study processes and patterns at a global
scale. To aid in this research, discrete global grid systems (DGGSs) are data models
which enable environmental modeling, monitoring and sampling across the earth at a
variety of spatial scales. A DGGS can be evaluated on a...
GIS technology has reached a point where it can be utilized by nonprofessionals in a desktop environment. This paper reviews the implementation of a pilot project for developing a localized-natural resource GIS. The resulting GIS was custom designed to answer questions posed by fish and wildlife biologists who need to...
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's (ODFW) Ecological Analysis
Center (EAC) is in the process of creating, from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)
imagery, a vegetation map of Oregon that will meet the latest standards set by the
National Gap Analysis Program. Since field verification is often expensive and by...
Because of declines in salmon populations in recent years, the health of salmon habitat, in particular, is the focus of many resource agencies. The objective of this study is to use GIS to predict the location of suitable habitat. With data from an extensive set of stream surveys, GIS was...
Modern environmental monitoring and modeling requires a good global
grid system for survey sampling and accurate, spatially complete data
collection of relevant environmental phenomena. A prime requirement for the
global grid system is that the global sampling grids be regular and equal in area
and have minimal shape distortion. None...
The effect of scale is an important concern in mapping of biodiversity. Scale issues include the grid cell size used for analysis and the effect of the extent and internal boundaries. Because biodiversity analysis involves combinatorial processes, determining the proper scale is data dependent and cannot be predicted from the...
The main theme of this research is the application of geographic techniques in a study involving environmental monitoring and analysis of the associations between landscape and in-stream characteristics in the Pacific Northwest. The geographic techniques used in this study include (1) geographic information systems (GIS) coupled with statistical analysis and...
This dissertation details an experiment designed to identify gender differences in learning using three experimental treatments: animation, static graphics, and verbal instruction alone. Three learning presentations were used in testing of 332 university students. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA, binomial tests for differences of proportion, and descriptive statistics. Results...
The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and test methods for
quantifying the relative proportion of hardwood and conifer cover from Thematic Mapper
(TM) imagery. The research was focused on closed canopy forests in the Oregon Coast
Range, where hardwood, conifer, and mixed stand conditions are prevalent. Based...
The purpose of this project, therefore, is to develop a GIS for a small
geographical area that is currently of high priority to the GLT. The development of this GIS will be documented in a sequential fashion, so that it may serve as a
framework for future endeavors. This paper...
The World Wide Web is a promising new media for cartography. It allows the creation of interactive maps that can be accessed by the general public. There is a wide variety both in methods used and in the overall quality of current Web sites. This report reviews the state of...
Training high school students to conduct field mapping and data
collection of wildlife habitat on public lands produces important data for
local government geographic information systems and introduces students
to the field of geography. However, the positional accuracy of the spatial
data is important for use in a GIS, as...
Animated cartography is still a new field. It has been experimented with for years, but it
has not gained general usage except partially in use by the news media. Nevertheless, certain
subjects cry out for displaying the patterns of movement over time, such as historical patterns of
migration and settlement,...
Models that assess the risk to biodiversity from landscape change can help
communities prioritize planning decisions. Accurate representation of the ecology and
life history traits of species is necessary. This study introduces the use of habitat
quality in a biodiversity risk model to determine the significance of habitat quality when...
National and international organizations are developing spatial databases to assess the
distribution of Biodiversity using geographic information systems (GIS). Currently, there
are no guidelines or standards for building GIS databases for biodiversity assessment
because database design is discipline-dependent and most biodiversity disciplines lack
spatial traditions. The present research analyzes the...
High resolution land use/land cover information from
stream riparian areas is useful in understanding instream
biotic assemblages, and is often not available for
geographical research. A classification system was developed
which provides the types of information about the riparian
buffer thought to be important in providing good habitat for,
or...
This paper explores the use of hypermedia m geographical and environmental analysis, focusing on the use of sound. After providing essential definitions the paper presents a brief history of multimedia and hypertext (the combination of which lead to the term hypermedia) and object oriented programming. The concept of the hypermap...
Vegetation along the banks of mountain streams in the western Oregon
Cascades comprises an integral part of the transition zone between land and
water based ecosystems, and as such, is a vitally important and unique natural
resource. Forestry is a major land use in this region, and harvesting riparian
vegetation...
Satellite imagery has become an efficient and time effective tool that
may aid in the development of regional terrestrial and aquatic resource management
schemes. A methodology utilizing National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
imagery, 1.1 kilometer spatial resolution at nadir, was developed for delineating...
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a burgeoning
field with its roots in geography. It is increasingly
being used by a large variety of disciplines, including
land use planning, as a decision support tool to help solve
complex spatial problems. At Oregon State University,
researchers have developed an analog model which...
Efficient management of natural resources requires the ability to utilize and integrate information. The challenge is to fully utilize this information base with its various degrees of accessibility, ever increasing volume and dispersed nature. The manager must be familiar with media types used to store, manage and communicate this information....
Historically the U.S. Forest Service has used uncorrected
aerial photographs to delineate proposed and past management
activities on the land base it manages. Transferring a boundary
from an image not planimetrically correct to a planimetrically
corrected image introduces errors. Positional accuracy of
boundaries affects the number of acres the Forest...
When the Spatial Data Transfer Standard is adopted as a Federal
Information Processing Standard, a Quality Report containing sections on lineage,
accuracy, logical consistency, and completeness will be required of agencies
producing digital cartographic data. This Quality Report diverges significantly from
the "U.S. National Map Accuracy Standards", in place for...
This study provides some guidelines using and comparing the
RGB (red, green, blue), HSV (hue, saturation, value), and HLS (hue,
lightness, saturation) color specification systems to help designers
of computer produced layer tinted maps to select appropriate and
effective colors from the immense palette provided by modern color
monitors. Map...
With increased attention being focused on the remaining old-growth
forest resource in the Pacific Northwest a way to ecologically rate forest stands is
needed to assist the U.S. Forest Service in its management decisions. A Geographic
Information System (GIS) model was developed to rate old-growth stands in a 49,500
acre...
A site suitability analysis for reforestation of the endemic Hawaiian forest tree koa (Acacia koa var. hawaiiensis) was performed. The study will assist the Hawai'i Resource Conservation and Development's (RCD) Forestry Committee in their effort to develop a master land use plan for koa regeneration on the Island of Hawai'i....
The American Proposed Standard for Digital
Cartographic Data presents the new national exchange format
which allows the transfer of spatial data among parties
that may use different computer hardware and different
operating system software.
A translator program for the conversion of the AutoCAD
DXf data structure to the Standard's output...
Equal value gray scales are frequently employed by cartographers to choose gray tone area
symbols. Several researchers have tried to quantify perceived gray tone as a function of percent area inked or
reflectance but results have varied. The influence of pattern and texture on gray tone perception is considered
a...
Slope-aspect is the compass direction of a slope at a particular location on a given
surface, and can provide a graphic tool for people who require an understanding of
the pattern of slope-aspect variation across a landscape. Slope-aspect maps can be
helpful for terrain analysis, watershed management, building site analysis,...